Supported subtitle and closed caption files

A subtitle or closed caption file contains both the text of what is said in the video and time codes for when each line of text should be displayed. Some files also include position and style information, which is especially useful for deaf or hard of hearing viewers. See what file formats YouTube supports below.

These file formats are typically used for closed captions for broadcast content (TV and movies) and support either the CEA-608 or EBU-STL standards. YouTube tries to display the captions from these files as if they were on a TV — with the same styling, color, and positioning.

Format name

File extension

Additional information

Scenarist Closed Caption

.scc

These files have an exact representation of CEA-608 data, which is the preferred format whenever captions are based on CEA-608 features.

Scenarist Closed Caption (.scc file extension) files are our preferred file format. These files have an exact representation of CEA-608 data, which is the preferred format whenever captions are based on CEA-608 features.